There is no next year. Only the next 16 games, and the players best fit for them.

Chris Greenwood was one of three draft picks from the past two years who were cut Saturday by the Lions.Mike Mulholland | MLive.com

Detroit went 4-12 last season and this coaching staff -- and their players -- are under increasing pressure to perform right now. That was reflected Saturday as the team made tough choices over who to cut.

A good example is finding room on the roster for Rashean Mathis, a 33-year-old defensive back whose best days are behind him, but cutting cornerback Chris Greenwood -- a fifth-round pick only a year ago.

Greenwood is 6-foot-1 with 4.34 speed and a 43-inch vertical. Those are freaky tools.

But he is a developmental talent who was beset by injury, first a sports hernia that cost him all of last season, then a hamstring that cost him much of this training camp. By the time he returned to the field against New England this preseason, he had unsterstandable rust.

Perhaps on another team, or on this team at a different time, Greenwood would have landed a spot at the end of the roster to see if he could sort himself out. But Detroit, and this staff, just don't have that kind of time.

The Lions need to win now, and Mathis can play safety, cornerback and nickelback. That makes him more valuable than Greenwood, even if he's not a long-term investment.